Management of Engineers and Technology

1. Management of Engineers and Technology People Issues

2. Themes • BS Engineering programs emphasize technical competency • Engineers do many non-technical tasks • Engineering and management have very little in common • Education can help ease the transition

3. Making the Transition • Social/people focus • Relationships • Communication • Conflict resolution • New definition of success • Leadership • Motivation • Strategy (direction) • Business/customer focus

4. Principle 1: Mastering Relationships • People are central to business • Employees, boss, coworkers • Suppliers, customers, regulators • Family, friends, community • People need to be… • Led • Motivated • Accommodated • Organized

5. Business is about People • Social interaction • Communication • Competition • Politics • Conflict • What are engineers good at?

6. Successful Projects • Done by a group of people with good • Organization, communication • Leadership, motivation, influence • Focus on a goal • Decision making, problem solving

7. Not About Technology • The best technology does not always win • Sony Betamax/VHS • Windows/Mac • Linux/Windows?

8. Management success • In modern society, we are specialists • We have expertise in a very narrow area • We rely on others for everything else • Relationships enable success • Your ability to deal with people determines your success as a manager • Put people first, technology second

9. More Themes • Engineers are valued for their technical abilities • Relationships rule business • People issues dominate relationships • To make the transition to management, acquire good people skills

10. Homework 1:Emotional Intelligence • Emotion and intelligence are connected, not opposites • Emotions affect thinking, reasoning, judgment, actions • Emotional IQ may be more important than traditional IQ in success • Engineers usually have low emotional IQ

11. Why People Seem Difficult • Technical systems, although complex, obey logical rules and/or laws • Individual people are more complex and follow no set rules • A system of multiple people is incredibly complex and unpredictable

12. Personality Types • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator • Extrovert/Introvert (external/internal) • Sensing/iNtuitive (concrete/abstract) • Thinking/Feeling (what we trust) • Judging/Perceiving (planned/spontaneous)

13. Uses of Personality Typing • Person-job match • Identify areas for development • Anticipating and resolving conflict • Promoting diversity

14. Dangers of Personality Typing • Results of tests may differ depending on when they are taken • Putting people into one of 16 neat categories seems overly simple • Types can become stereotypes

15. Behavioral Tendencies • People tend to do what is best for themselves • People want to avoid looking bad • People tend to go with the crowd • People make communication challenging • People are imperfect

16. Summary • People are complex and hard to predict • Systems of people are difficult to manage • Knowing about personality types and behavioral tendencies (raising your Emotional IQ) can help you be a better manager • Most engineers have a long way to go